PLAYBACK: OYA Black Art's “Reel Black: Our Film Stories” Wins Audience Choice Award at Women in Film & Television Toronto Showcase 2023
Producers Shehrezade Mian and Alexx Bryant led the honourees at the Women in Film & Television Toronto (WIFT Toronto)’s 14th annual Showcase awards.
The WIFT Showcase took place on Tuesday (May 9) at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox, and featured eight short films from women and non-binary filmmakers from Canada. The shorts compete between four awards — three juried awards and one by audience vote — which all come with cash prizes from the Foundation for WIFT Toronto.
Mian (pictured left) won Best in Showcase for the narrative short There Are No Children Here, which she produced and directed. The prize comes with $2,000, as well as a $2,500 certificate for services from post-production outfit Company 3 Toronto, and a meeting with distribution company Mongrel Media co-president Andrew Frank.
There Are No Children Here tied with the documentary short Reel Black: Our Film Stories, produced by Bryant (pictured middle), for the Audience Choice award. The two producers will receive the $2,000 cash prize, and a $2,500 certificate from equipment rental company Grande Camera.
Reel Black: Our Film Stories also won Best Writing, which comes with a $2,000 cash prize, a consultation with story editor Jamie Gaetz, and a sit-in at two CBC writing rooms, as well as a copy of Final Draft. The short doc was written by Tristen Sutherland, Émeraude Domingos Mbuku and Ayan Tani.
By Kelly Townsend
